Tadej Pogacar still believes he can win the Tour de France by bike for the third time in a row, a possibility yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard prefers not to tackle with four days to go in Paris.
I am optimistic. morning [quinta-feira]It’s another tough day. We will try again”, promised the young Slovenian from the UAE Emirates, after conquering today, at the top of Peyragudes, his third victory in this edition and the ninth in three participations in the Tour.
Winner of the 17th stage, against Vingegaard, Pogacar praised the work of his team, reduced to three other members, after the withdrawal of the Polish Rafal Majka, his favorite “gregarious”, due to injury.
There were only four of us, and winning the stage is already incredible. We can all be proud, because without Rafal, George [Bennett]the vegan [Stake Laengen] is he [Marc] Soler we can’t try anymore. Tomorrow is another chance. At the moment I am happy to have won today”, he assured.
the two-time champion highlighted the work of the Danish “roller” Mikkel Bjergthis Wednesday turned into a climber, and Brandon McNulty, the American who took him to the last 300 meters of the stage and who was third, 32 seconds behind the leading pair.
“Mikkel looked like a climber today, he set a good pace on the climbs. It was incredible. I felt so good at this pace, so confident, and I know he did too. He is he Brandon did an amazing job.”kept.
Despite the performance of his teammates, “Pogi”, 23, could not distance the yellow jersey, who crossed the line from behind, without losing time, except for the four-second bonus that the Slovenian won.
[Pogacar] He made good attacks today. He knew that he had to be prepared, he had to fight. I’m glad I was able to keep up with him. In endings like this, I think he is more explosive. For me, [a chegada] before it had to be more difficult to be able to make a difference. I think in the end I can be happy with how it went,” said Vingegaard.
Still adjusting to the interviews, the shy 25-year-old Dane gave no further details about being alone more than 20 kilometers from the finish, on the penultimate climb of the course.
It is never good to be isolated. If we have a problem, it could be a disaster. But the team ran fantastically. We were only three at the front. Pogacar had McNulty, who was super strong today. I’m not disappointed that I was alone.”
When asked if he believes more and more that he will win the Tour, the The Jumbo-Visma rider said he didn’t want to think about it.
I go day by day, I will give my best every day and we will see how it goes in Paris,” he added, revealing that he does not read newspapers, following his girlfriend’s advice, to “control the pressure of having the yellow jersey.”
Ever closer to accompanying the two youngsters on the final podium, on Sunday, in Campos Elísios, is Geraint Thomas (INEOS), who this Wednesday lost 2.07 minutes with the duo, but consolidated his third place overall has the pursuers. three minutes away.
[O dia] It was okay, but I didn’t feel as light on the pedals as earlier in the race. I didn’t feel extraordinary today. I decided to wait for the group in the back instead of trying to fight alone and go into ‘reserve’. I’d rather join that group than risk blowing up here. [em Peyragudes] and, perhaps, waste even more time. I managed to save my legs a little bit and then have a solid performance to the line”, he analyzed.
The experienced 36-year-old Welshman – he is 11 years older than Vingegaard and 13 years older than “Pogi” – lost contact with the duo and McNulty at the end of the 10.7km climb to Val Louron-Azet, expecting a group on that followed later and that included Romain Bardet (DSM), before facing alone the last kilometers of the climb to Peyragudes, to be fourth at the finish.
The 2018 Tour champion and 2019 edition runner-up stated that Pogacar deserved the stage and admitted that he was surprised by the performance of UAE Emirates.
“I didn’t expect that, especially from Bjerg. I think he has outdone himself because of the type of racer that he is. He almost made me take off, ”said the INEOS pilot.
Source: Observadora
